


9 to 5

by poppyharris



Category: Mad Men
Genre: F/M, Going to the movies, Poor girls, age gap, comparing your ex wife to your new girlfriend
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-28
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:41:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27765400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poppyharris/pseuds/poppyharris
Summary: pete tries to move on from trudy, but she's in his head.
Relationships: Past Pete Campbell/Trudy Campbell, Pete Campbell/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 1





	9 to 5

**Author's Note:**

> i feel like y'all don't appreciate how much i research my fics   
> it takes 26 hours to get from littleton co to princeton and that's mf wild yo

"peggy, you're the second to last person i'm going to ask. can you take tammy for a few ho- the night?" pete didn't dare look peggy in the eye, and he prayed to whatever bearded fuck was up in the sky that she wouldn't ask why.

"why do you need me to take care of her? why not ask trudy?" peggy asked, staring down at the file she had in her hand. pete sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"can you take her or not? i can pay you, if you say yes," pete asked, huffing through his nose. 

“spend time with your daughter,” peggy dumped the stack of papers onto her desk, before turning around to give him a hard look. 

pete scrunched his nose, looking away from her. “i’m going to this weekend, it’s just tonight i need help with,” he took a deep breath, pinching the bridge of his nose. “i can pay you.”

peggy raised an eyebrow, but gave an unsure nod. “are you giving me your keys?” pete suddenly became clammy with fear. was he going to give her his keys? he never even considered if heather was going to come back to his place. probably not, she was far too independent to come home with pete after just one date. 

it’d taken him hours to even get her phone number… even longer to get her to come out on a date. pete had even considered asking don for advice, but remembered he still had an ounce of self-respect. he took a deep breath, and smiled, digging in his coat pocket. “of course. you’re welcome to any food in the fridge. i’m not sure what time i’ll be back,” pete hesitated for a moment, but dropped the key into peggy’s hand. she nodded at him, clearly bemused by how strange he was acting.

* * *

“i appreciate this, hetty,” pete whispered as they waited in line. heather shook her head, but smiled anyway. her nurses’ uniform made her stick out like a sore thumb, but people were cautious of moving out of the way for her when they saw pete. heather was a good ten years younger than him (maybe more, maybe less, pete hadn’t even asked yet), and cut a beautiful figure next to pete’s up and down suit.

maybe that’s why pete couldn’t stand trudy. she’d insist on a far swankier theatre, on a nicer film. it’d been heather that had suggested “they shoot horses, don’t they?” (okay, maybe pete thought she’d actually been asking him a question when she suggested it). trudy would probably demand that pete buy her a huge posh dinner beforehand, then only eat three or four bites out of it. heather ate like it was going out of fashion.

she just wanted a quiet face-stuffing of fries in mcdonalds. pete looked down at his shoes for a second, shuffling forward when the people in front of them moved. heather’s hand twitched a little, and pete was suddenly overcome with the need to hold it.

so he did. he let her fingers interlock with his, the red bitten nails catching his eye. pete really couldn’t turn the advertising off, could he? “what nail polish do you use?” pete asked, looking down at her. heather raised an eyebrow, but smiled and flexed her hands a little.

“revlon, it’s a bit old - one of the summer fun set, but i really like them,” she looked down at her nails, before looking back up at him. “why? you’re not judging, are you?” pete quickly shook his head, his cheeks going a light pink. summer fun… one of the first ever ads he ever pitched. he remembered don saying it was “surprisingly queer.”

“no, i really like them,” pete raised her hand up, and pressed a gentle kiss to her fingers. heather looked like her brain had shut down, before her entire face turned a deep red, and she quickly looked away. pete took a deep breath, staring at the long queue in front of them.

“heather, tell me about yourself,” pete looked down again at the woman, causing her face to scrunch up. 

“i’m from colorado, i hid in my brother’s car when he moved to princeton, i became a midwife,” heather shrugged, looking straight ahead. pete gaped at her, but realised the finality of her tone, and kept his mouth shut. colorado… she’d travelled halfway across the country. he thought megan coming from canada was insane, but she didn’t do it in the back of (what pete assumed from her relative financial modesty) the back of a shitty car. 

“how old are you?” pete regretted the question the moment it came out of his mouth. she sighed, and started tapping her foot. she didn’t pull her hand away though, but seemed a bit pissed.

“i’m twenty-six. still fertile, don’t you worry,” heather scoffed, taking a step forward. pete quickly shook his head, turning to her and suddenly grabbing her shoulders, making him look at her.

“i don’t care, heather. i think you’re beautiful, and for once in my life, i’m not going to care about stupid traditions and-”

“can y’all move forward?!” a woman behind them shouted, causing pete to look in front of them. oops.

pete quickly walked forward, hearing heather laugh and quickly walk after him. pete looked away bashfully. jesus, he wasn’t much good at this wooing business. at least with trudy, it had been all laid out for the both of them. and now pete was having to freehand the whole thing. he’d had most of his luck with heather by treating her like how he’d treat a client. maybe he should just do that. fuck a movie, he should take her out bowling, out shooting. to a whiskey tasting evening. pete knew she wasn’t like trudy, she was so much… more. trudy hated the idea of working, she didn’t truly understand the value of what pete did for her. 

marrying down… his mom would never forgive him. but she never forgave him for a lot of things. at least heather had a job, had a family. it wasn’t like pete was marrying a prostitute he’d knocked up. well, to be fair, his mom wouldn’t care if he was marrying judith ford, pete was still a failure in her eyes.

no, this time, pete was going to be in love. he was going to treat heather the way she deserved, and the way she wanted to be treated. this was going to be a decision about his life that he was going to make. 

“two for, uh, they shoot horses, don’t they?” pete leaned into the booth, the ticket man snorted to himself quietly, printing two tickets.

“they do, son,” the ticket man stated, tapping the price sign. pete counted out the three dollars, and took the tickets. heather’s grip on his hand tightened for a moment- oh, she was squeezing it. pete couldn’t help the small smile that appeared, and gently led her into the screening. the theatre was already hazy from the cigarette smoke, causing heather to cover her mouth as they passed the loges.

pete led her to the middle row, right up against the wall, his favorite spot. he’d never have taken trudy here. she’d complain about the couple literally fucking three rows in front, and about the sticky floor and the general smell of the place. but heather put her head on pete’s shoulder, and held his hand, watching the trailers. maybe he could get used to this. 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> title: 9 to 5 by dolly parton


End file.
